Drivers in Denver can get a free AirTag to hide in their vehicle, in a program the Denver Police Department hopes will reduce auto thefts.
AirTag has proven itself to be extremely useful when it comes to fighting crime. It has regularly become the key for police recovering stolen cars and making arrests, due to being given the location of the tracker.
As part of the DenverTrack program, the Denver Police Department hopes to take advantage of the same benefits, by including an AirTag or a Samsung SmartTag in their vehicle. As part of the initiative’s launch, Denver Police will be providing a total of 450 free trackers between March 19 and March 21.
The initiative involves vehicle owners registering with the program using a form, detailing the vehicle’s particulars as well as information about any built-in GPS tracking or third-party tracking devices inserted into the vehicle. A report is then generated, with an email provided to the vehicle’s owner to confirm the registration and a permanent case report number.
Drivers will also get a DenverTrack decal sent through the mail, which can be placed in the vehicle’s window.
For drivers who don’t have a tracking system built into their vehicle, and they don’t own an AirTag or a SmartTag, they can sign up in advance for an in-person registration event. The AirTags and SmartTags are provided by the Colorado Auto Theft Prevention Authority.
If a car registered in the program is stolen, the vehicle owner can call 911 to report it as stolen, and to confirm it was registered under DenverTrack. At that point, the police will work with the driver to either access the built-in tracking system or the aftermarket AirTag or tracker.
While the registration “preauthorizes the Denver Police Department to work with GPS information” provided when a vehicle is reported as stolen, it doesn’t grant automatic access to the vehicle’s location. Officers are not able to see the location of the AirTag unless it is shared by the owner.
The distribution of AirTags to drivers is theoretically a good way to try and reduce car crime, but it still requires some care to avoid a bad result.
In January 2022, Denver police were chasing after a truck stolen from a hotel, which contained firearms, drones, and an iPhone 11. However, an attempt to use Find My to track the iPhone resulted in a SWAT raid on the wrong house, one owned by a 77-year-old grandmother.
A court ordered the city to pay a $3.76 million award to the grandmother.
